The World of Horrors

The world is full of awful things, there is no denying. The hurt, the pain, the crimes that happen on a daily basis are unforgivable, terrible, horrific.
But there's more. Never mind the murder of an innocent person, the torture of a blameless child, the agony we face every single day... there is always more, it seems.
I mean things like the holocaust, the african slavery, the residential schools. Abuse, neglect, mis-directed hatred, the cruelty that no one should have to face.
Why do we do these things? To feel strong? To make another understand? To get even?
Well, there are easier ways. The problem is, we never use them.
I will never understand how a person can punish a nation for one man's crimes.
In my family, I have seen and heard of pain. I have seen tears, I have felt my own horror in hearing the awful, painful stories.
I hate it. I absolutely, without a doubt, loathe it.
It is unfair. No one, absolutely no person on the planet, should be treated this way.
These casualties, these events, make me hate myself, make me despise human beings as a race.
We have no purpose in living if all we do is destroy everything around us.
And these things affect everyone.
How many people have commited suicide, have slit their wrists, or resorted to extremes like drugs or alcohol to escape the horror of their pasts. There is nothing we can do to right our wrongs. It's useless to deny that we have destroyed one another very, very thoroughly.
The only thing we can do is prevent it from happening. We must listen to our souls, and do what is right. We must act in love. That's all it takes in most cases.
For example, a child would much rather listen to someone who is kind to them, against someone who yells at them and abuses them, just like anyone.
We have to be able to do the good thing, no matter how hard it may be.
We have to flip the situation around in our heads. What if it was us who was taken from our homes to be abused or neglected? If it was your mother who was murdered, or your child who commited suicide because of horror inflicted on them?
It's not so pleasant from that point of view most of the time, is it?
Now try this: say it was you who was treated kindly in spite of everything that was done to you, everything you have done to others? What if you were the one respected and accepted? If you had love and goodness surrounding you?
It is easy to see which is easier to bear.
There is a saying that goes a little like this: 'If you don't want it done to you, don't do it to another.'
And another, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.'
These are things to live by. Both are marks of compassion, of understanding. These are things that people, in general, lack. They are things that we must, no matter what, have, because, if we didn't, we would have no regard for each other whatsoever and there would be no more of anything.
If we coudn't relate to each other, if we couldn't understand one another's sides, then there would be no reason to abstain from hurting those around us.
Sometimes bad things happen. They happen for a reason. We must find that reason, and put it to work.
Teach love, understand one another's pain, be kind and compassionate.
Because, in the end, it may be all the we've got.